In a strip mall parking lot this month in Vallejo, California, two strangers — one an off-duty police officer from a nearby town, the other a 38-year-old construction worker — squared off in a heated argument, according to witnesses.

The dispute on the evening of Nov. 10 ended with the officer shooting the construction worker, Eric Reason, who was declared dead at the scene — leaving his family with unanswered questions about the confrontation and how it could flare into violence.

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Robert Weisberg, a professor of criminal law at Stanford, said he was unaware of a situation where an officer involved in a fatal shooting would be near a body to take photos. But he doesn’t believe doing so would break any laws.

“Criminal defendants are free to gather information in any legal way to help clear for a defense,” Weisberg said.

Allowing an officer such access, however, can be misinterpreted by the public, who are not always given the same benefit, especially in the midst of a fatal shooting, he added.

“The perception that this will enable the officer to craft a self-interested story or that there will be some collusion by him and the potential prosecuting figures,” Weisberg said, “that definitely doesn’t look good.”